Bright lights, big city: Big Ben lit up as the new year comes in
(Picture: Getty Images)Some years pass in a flash, others drag out every month. This year, though, was special: it managed to do both. If 2022 was a rollercoaster, it was one that seemed only ever to race downwards. We left most of the pandemic behind, and found ourselves hurtling into war, political pantomime and a cost-of-living crisis.
And still — somehow — there was a plenty of room for good news across the planet. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 31 countries, including for the first time Slovenia; the decline of wild tigers has been reversed; crime across England and Wales is at its lowest since the early Eighties; child mortality is at its lowest level ever and cancer deaths are down across Europe, the US, Canada and Japan. Even in a year that seemed blighted by darkness, plenty of light made it in.
